Periodically defining new boundaries for political districts is a necessary task in a representative democracy. The U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court require that each vote cast in American elections carry roughly the same weight. In other words, no matter where a voter resides, the weight of their vote should be of equal proportion to the weight of all other votes.
While the impact and prevalence of gerrymandering is open for debate, there is no doubt that the process of redistricting can produce unfair partisan advantages. For these reasons, the rules that control how redistricting happens are important. On Nov. 6, 2018, Michigan voters will get to decide if the redistricting plan contained in Proposal 2 is the method this state should use in the future.